Operation Christmas Child only a month away

With the holiday season approaching, Wayne County residents are being reminded that the annual campaign to collect shoeboxes full of gifts for poor children around the world is beginning to gear up.

Operation Christmas Child, sponsored by the Samaritans Purse charity led by the Rev. Franklin Graham, will be collecting boxes for shipment overseas. In Wayne County, Adamsville Baptist Church on North Berkeley Boulevard, Mount Olive First Baptist Church and Pinkney Baptist Church in Fremont will serve as a collection point for the boxes. Churches, clubs and other civic groups are encouraged to participate.

National collection week is Monday, Nov. 12 through Monday, Nov. 19, but local individuals and groups are reminded not to wait until the last minute to purchase and arrange boxes suitable for donation.

Boxes should be designated for a boy or girl of a specific age. Age groups are 2-4 years old, 5-9 years old or 10-14 years old. Boxes should be marked with the appropriate sex and age of the child.

Boxes may contain toys and/or personal hygiene items. A donation of $7 is asked to help pay for the shipping of each box. A rubber band should be wrapped around each box when it is dropped off. Boxes may also be shipped directly to Samaritan's Purse at 801 Bamboo Road, Boone, NC 28607.

Items suitable for the boxes include school supplies such as pens, pencils, crayons, markers, stamps and ink pad sets, writing pads and paper, solar calculators and coloring or picture books. Toys such as small car, ball, dolls, stuffed animals, yo-yos, kazoos, jump ropes are also welcome.

Donors also are encouraged to include a personal note to the child, along with a photo of the donor and their family. If an address is included, it gives the child an opportunity to write back.

Items that should not be included in the boxes are: used or damaged items of any kind, toy guns, knives or military figures, chocolate or food, liquids or lotions, vitamins or other medications or breakable items such as snowglobes, glass containers or aerosol cans.